The long awaited remake of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is finally being filmed. There was a ton of back and forth and stops and starts but it is now officialy underway as far as getting it on celuiloid is concerned.

The great Peter Jackson is of course taking the helm (after Guillermo del Toro opted out) and he has setup a blog that will detail the entire process. Here is the very first video from the production set. If this is any indication, the DVD extras are going blow the previous ones out of the water. It looks like Mr. Jackson is going to be documenting everything extremely throughly.

We have lived with 24 fps for 9 decades – not because it’s the best film speed (it’s not by any stretch), but because it was the cheapest speed to achieve basic acceptable results back in 1927 or whenever it was adopted.

We’ve been watching Hobbit tests and dailies at 48 fps now for several months, and we often sit through two hours worth of footage without getting any eye strain from the 3D. It looks great, and we’ve actually become used to it now, to the point that other film experiences look a little primitive. I saw a new movie in the cinema on Sunday and I kept getting distracted by the juddery panning and blurring. We’re getting spoilt!